1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to the structure of paintball markers. More particularly, the present invention relates to paintball markers that have mechanisms for introducing a cleaning element into the barrel of the paintball marker without having to disassemble the paintball marker.
2. Prior Art Summary
Paintball is a sport that has become increasingly popular in recent years. In the sport of paintball, players shoot paintballs at opponents using paintball markers. Paintball markers, also known as paintball guns, are devices that are designed to shoot a paint filled paintball at a target at a speed of about 200 feet per second. The majority of paintball markers are pneumatic devices that use a compressed gas to project a paintball and power the triggering mechanism of the marker. The compressed gas is typically carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or compressed air. Regardless of its composition, the compressed gas is stored within a pressurized tank that attaches to the paintball marker.
Paintballs typically are thin-shelled structures that are filled with a colored liquid. When the paintball hits a hard surface, the shell of the paint ball ruptures and the colored liquid is released. A recurring problem with paintballs is that every so often the shell of the paintball will rupture inside the paintball gun as it is being fired. This causes colored liquid and shell fragments to coat the inside of the barrel of the paintball marker.
When the inside of a paintball marker's barrel is fouled with paintball liquid, that liquid contacts subsequent paintballs that are fired by the marker. Since the fouling in the barrel is uneven, the passing paintball meets different areas of resistance as it travels through the barrel. This causes the paintball to randomly spin within the barrel. When the spinning paintball exits the barrel, the spin on the paintball causes the paintball to fly erratically. The paintball therefore does not travel in the direction of aim.
In the prior art, there have been many devices invented to clean the remnants of a broken paintball from a paintball marker's barrel. Many of these cleaning devices are cleaning rods or tethers having plush brushes attached to their structures. When the rod or tether is pulled through the barrel, the plush brush wipes the interior of the barrel clean.
A problem associated with such cleaning devices is that they require the barrel be removed from the paintball marker prior to cleaning. The paintball marker must therefore be partially disassembled in order to be cleaned. This takes time and skill. The cleaning process is therefore very undesirable in the middle of a game of paintball when opponents are actively firing paintballs.
In the prior art, other cleaning systems have been developed that enable a paintball marker to be cleaned without removing the barrel of the paintball marker. In such prior art systems, a cleaning projectile is inserted into the barrel of the paintball gun. The cleaning projectile is then fired in place of a paintball. As the cleaning projectile is fired through the barrel, the cleaning projectile wipes clean the interior of the barrel.
In order to introduce a cleaning projectile into the barrel of a paintball marker without removing the barrel, the cleaning projectile must be introduced into the breach of the paintball marker. This often requires that the supply hopper of unfired paintballs be removed from the paintball marker. It also often requires that a person push the cleaning projectile into the breach of the paintball gun with their finger.
Many paintball guns have bolts that travel through the breach of a paintball marker and push the paintball into the barrel as the paintball marker is fired. If a person's finger is placed in front of the bolt during firing, the bolt can injure, or even sever, the finger. It is therefore very dangerous to manually introduce any object into the breach of a paintball marker.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,946, to Paquette, entitled Apparatus And Method For Dispensing Cleaning Balls Used In A Paintball Gun, a paintball marker is shown that automatically introduces a cleaning projectile into the barrel of the paintball marker. To clean the paintball marker's barrel, the cleaning projectile must be larger than the diameter of the barrel. The cleaning projectile, therefore cannot be fed into the hopper of the paintball marker as if it were a paintball. Rather, in the Paquette patent, the paintball marker itself is specifically designed and built to accept the cleaning system that feeds the cleaning projectiles into the marker barrel. Accordingly, the Paquette device cannot be retroactively added to existing paintball markers.
A need therefore exists for a system that can introduce a cleaning projectile into the barrel of a paintball marker, without having to dissemble the paintball marker and without requiring a specialized paintball marker. This need is met by the present invention as claimed and described below.